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August 26, 2009

Wildcat formation a passing fad in the NFL

By Jim Rueda

The latest craze in the NFL seems to be “The Wildcat” formation that was unveiled by the Miami Dolphins (at the NFL level) last season.

In Miami’s version, a running back (usually Ronnie Brown) lines up behind center and takes the snap. This apparently confuses defenses and enabled Brown to score five touchdowns out of the formation last season.

The formation has made for an interesting offseason with a lot of people drooling over the prospect of a Michael Vick or even a Percy Harvin getting involved. Maybe I don’t get it, but I fail to understand what all the hub-ub is about.

I understand that anytime an offense tries something different in the NFL it can be confusing to the opposition, but is the Wildcat really that confusing? In Miami, for example, all the Dolphins really did was replace the guy who usually gets the snap (a pretty accurate throwing quarterback in Chad Pennington) with Brown (who runs a lot better but throws a lot worse).

I would think that if you don’t have to worry about getting hurt by the pass, it would make it easier to key on the guy behind center because you know it’s very likely he’s going to run. Apparently defenses caught on to the Dolphins’ formation and Browns’ productivity out of the Wildcat was significantly curtailed the last few weeks of the season.

Now they’re saying lets put Vick back there, he’d be perfect for the Wildcat because he can run AND throw. Well ... yeah ... but wasn’t that the case for every snap he took in Atlanta, regardless of the formation? Don’t mobile, good-running quarterbacks — ala Donovan McNabb or Steve Young or even Fran Tarkenton — present an extra set of problems for defenses?

There’s a core of Vikings fans right now who say the team should keep Tarvaris Jackson because he’s perfectly suited for the Wildcat. Can you imagine him behind center and all the possibilities that go with him?

We don’t have to imagine it. We’ve seen it first hand for the last three years and discovered it doesn’t work very well.

Rumor has it Darren McFadden in Oakland, Maurice Jones-Drew in Jacksonville, Leon Washington with the Jets, and a number of other teams are all working on versions of the formation. Fine, but doesn’t it make sense for defenses in those situations to simply single cover the receivers and bring everybody else to stop the run?

And if you have a good running quarterback who throws well enough to keep defenses honest, shouldn’t he be your starting quarterback all the time, anyway?

Look for the Wildcat to disappear quickly. A lot of teams will try it this year but, by 2010, the fad will be over.



Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@mankatofreepress.com.

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